Teachers Luring Children
Teacher allegedly tried to lure teen boy for sex
By Jameson Cook, Macomb Daily Staff Writer April 15, 2004
A longtime teacher at a Macomb Township middle school was suspended by the
school district after he was arrested for trying to arrange sex with a
15-year-old boy.
Daniel Cusenza, 48, of Clinton Township, who has taught at
Iroquois Middle
School for 17 years, was arrested by the county's computer crime unit last
Friday when he showed up in Harrison Township to meet with whom he thought was
the boy. In fact, it was an undercover officer from the
Macomb Area Computer
Enforcement team.
The computer team since it was formed three years ago has arrested about 40
people for using the Internet to try to prey on underage teens for sex. Eleven
of those have come in the past six weeks.
Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said he is "stunned" by the number of
potential child predators.
"We're getting them from all walks of life, and anytime it's someone who is
in a position of trust with children it's a big concern," Hackel said.
Hackel said Cusenza chatted with a police officer for 30 minutes.
"The content was pretty graphic in what he said he wanted to do," Hackel said.
Chippewa Valley Schools officials placed Cusenza on paid administrative leave
Wednesday when they learned about the charges and will look into whether any
student may have complained about Cusenza, said spokeswoman Diane Blain.
"These are serious allegations," Blain said.
The district has been on spring break this week.
Cusenza, who was freed Monday after posting a $10,000 bond, is not allowed to be
on the school premises or attend school events during his suspension.
Like other accused computer predators, Cusenza faces up to 20 years in prison on
each of the two charges.
Cusenza is the second teacher arrested by the computer team. The other was a
then 47-year-old Ann Arbor man who taught school in Inkster.
The number of arrests has escalated dramatically in recent months as undercover
officers are swamped with would-be predators, Hackel said. Once an officer
enters an online chat room identifying himself as a teenage boy or girl, the
predators swarm.
"It's amazing, it's like an assembly line," the sheriff said. "We don't have
enough time to deal with this."
To handle the overload, the computer officers are currently training
sheriff's
reserves to conduct online investigations.
"We have to be careful with things like entrapment and checking out the people
we're using," Hackel said.
Among other recent arrests,
Jamie Lee Butchbaker, 30, of Kalamazoo, was
apprehended Tuesday in Clinton Township after he made the 2 1/2-hour drive for
his supposed rendezvous with a 15-year-old girl.
"He even sent officers a photo of what he said were his private parts," Hackel
said.
Hackel said Butchbaker traveled the farthest of any of the prior arrestees.
To help warn the public, Hackel is identifying the accused cyber child predators
with their names and photographs on the department's Web site,
www.macomb-sheriff.com.
ŠThe Macomb Daily 2004
Teacher accused of seeking sex with boy
April 14, 2004 - BY AMBER HUNT MARTIN - FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A seventh-grade teacher at
Iroquois Middle School
in Macomb Township has been
charged with setting up a sexual rendezvous with what he thought was a
14-year-old boy on the Internet.
Police said Daniel Cusenza, 48, was arrested Friday at a designated meeting
spot in Harrison Township. He had gone to the location after chatting online
with a female police detective posing as a teenage boy, said Capt. Tony Wickersham of the Macomb County Sheriff's Department.
"We have to look at what we are going to do now as a community to make sure
the children are protected," Wickersham said.
Diane Blain, spokeswoman for the Chippewa Valley School District, said she
was told late Tuesday of the allegations.
"Once we've received the information and had an opportunity to review it,
we'll take any precaution that is necessary to protect the children," Blain
said.
Cusenza was arraigned in 41B District Court in Mt. Clemens on Saturday by one
judge, then arraigned again Monday -- a standard arraignment practice on
weekends.
On Monday, Judge John C. Foster lowered Cusenza's bond from $50,000 to $10,000
and agreed to allow the teacher supervised contact with children. Foster said he
could not comment on specifics of the case.
Cusenza posted bond Monday.
It was unclear Tuesday whether the judge's contact order would allow Cusenza to
continue teaching. Blain said district officials, some of whom return from
spring break today, will make that decision before students return to school
Monday.
Eric Kaiser, Macomb County's chief trial attorney, said online predators are
becoming more prevalent. He said it's alarming whenever an adult preys on a
child, but it's even more disturbing when the allegations involve a teacher.
"It's putting the fox in the henhouse," he said. "If they're preying and they
have more prey right there in front of them, it makes the possibility that much
greater."
Cusenza couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. He is charged with child
sexually abusive activity and using a computer to commit a felony. Both are
punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction.
According to the school district's Web site, Cusenza teaches math, science
and reading.
Contact AMBER HUNT MARTIN at 586-469-4904 or
hunt@freepress.com.
Teacher placed on leave after sex sting charges
The seventh-grade teacher at Iroquois Middle School arrested Friday on suspicion
of soliciting sex from a detective posing as a teenager on the Internet has been
placed on paid administrative leave by the Chippewa Valley School District.
Daniel Cusenza, 48, of Clinton Township was arrested after police said he showed
up for a sexual rendezvous he'd set up online with what he thought was a
14-year-old boy. Cusenza really had been chatting with a female police
detective, said Capt. Tony Wickersham of the Macomb County Sheriff's Department.
School officials learned of the arrest late Tuesday. Spokeswoman Diane Blain
said Cusenza was relieved of his teaching duties indefinitely Wednesday.
Cusenza had worked at the Macomb Township middle school since September 1987. He
taught math, science and reading.
He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on charges of child sexually
abusive activity and using a computer to commit a felony. He posted 10 percent
of his $10,000 bond.
By Amber Hunt Martin - Free Press
Board suspends teacher after arrest
A math, science and reading teacher at Iroquois Middle School was suspended with
pay Wednesday, following his arrest last week on charges he attempted a sexual
meeting via the Internet with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy. The
contact actually was with a Macomb County Sheriff's deputy. Chippewa Valley
school officials told Dan Cusenza, 48, he must stay off school premises and
can't attend school events during his suspension, spokeswoman Diane Blain said.
He has taught at Iroquois since 1987. Schools in the Chippewa Valley district
began their spring break April 8. Students return to classes Monday. Cusenza was
released on bond following an arraignment Monday in which he pleaded not guilty.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Macomb Briefs
Detroit News staff reports and wire services
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